momma cat

Question
Our cat had 2 kittens last year. We decided to keep these kittens and had their mother spayed. before we could spay her kittens, however, they each had a litter. The first one's litter is 5 weeks old now, the other litter was just born a few days ago. The other day we were showing the kittens to a prospective new family. Suddenly I noticed that one of the kittens was missing. After searching for several minutes, I remembered seeing the other mother with the kittens, cleaning them as if she were the mother. So I decided to go look where the newer kittens were (mom decided to have them under our house of all places!) We found her there with the litter of newborns. I have never heard of a mother cat moving another cat's kittens like this. Would this be because their scents may be similar since the mothers are sisters? We don't know who the father is as we have several male cats roaming the neighborhood. It could be the same one as far as we know. I just thought it was strange that she would move one that wasn't hers and just put it with her babies that don't evenhave their eyes open yet!

Answer
Hi Dana,
Some moms have a very high maternal instinct. They will take care of anyone's offspring. You've seen the pictures of a dog nursing a cat. It sounds like your female may just be one like that. She likes taking care of kittens. And those kittens are lucky to have two moms. Good luck with your new arrivals.

Ciao, Karen